Dopamine/Inotropin Dopamine is a dose dependent medication, meaning it activates different receptors depending upon the dose given. Low dose activates dopaminergic receptors which causes vasodilation. At 2-10 mcg/kg/min, beta 1 is stimulated and you get increased cardiac contractility making this a positive inotrope. This should be easy to remember since the name of the drug [...]

Definitions Vasoactive is an umbrella term for any drug that makes your heart rate and/or blood pressure go up or down. Vasopressor, on the other hand, is a term for a drug that makes your blood pressure goes up by the process of vasoconstriction (squeeze). A positive inotrope is different from a vasopressor in that [...]

Bad News: CRNA is no longer the Best Kept Secret in Healthcare! Yep..Nurse Anesthesia is no longer the best kept secret- a lot of your co-workers in the ICU are thinking about applying and they are going to be your biggest competition. Do you want to get a million steps ahead of them? Sign up [...]

Why do our ICU patients get sepsis? They are likely on antibiotic therapy, making our patients susceptible to resistant organsims. Plus, our patients are already sick and possibly immunocompromised. Just being in the hospital is a risk as patients deal with the threat of hospital acquired pneumonia, urosepsis from foley catheters and skin infection from [...]

Every ICU has a slightly different requirement as far as what you are assessing as the RN. Even though every patient is unique, there is a general ICU assessment that will work for most. In this audio only version, we will go through a basic ICU assessment and cover Neuro, Cardiac, Respiratory, GI/GU, Skin, and [...]

Chest tubes are not as scary as they sound. If the chest tube is already in place and there are no immediate problems, chances are your 12 hour shift is going to be ok. If not, we’ll teach you exactly what to do. Chest tubes can be placed in a pleural space or a mediastinal [...]

Download the related podcast about Death in the ICU! When physicians have decided there is nothing more they can do for a patient, they will often speak with the families and encourage them to withdraw care. Our facility actually says “Comfort Measures Only (CMO)” instead of “Withdrawing Care” because withdrawing care implies that we will [...]

Everything you need to know about Arterial Lines in this audio only version! What types of patients get arterial lines? What does the nurse need to know about arterial lines? How do you troubleshoot arterial lines? And I need a big favor! Go to iTunes and rate my show! I need your help to get [...]

Download to learn more about respiratory failure, and what the nurse does before, during, and after intubation. Causes of Respiratory Failure Sepsis, Pneumonia (aspiration), COPD Exacerbation, Trauma, Pulmonary Embolism, Pneumothorax, and Pleural Effusion What is a pleural effusion? A pleural effusion is an abnormal collection of fluid in the pleural lining which disrupts oxygen exchange [...]

Download! What to do if your patient has a seizure, vomits blood or self-extubates, etc. In this crazy job called nursing, everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong at some point in your career. I am dedicating this post to some worst case scenarios. WORST CASE SCENARIOS: HEAD AND NECK 1. Your patient begins [...]

Download! This AUDIO only version will cover the following topics: ABG interpretation made easy! ABG in the real world: the ICU What do you NEED to know about Ventillator Settings? great link for practice ABG’s: http://www.realnurseed.com/abg.htm

Download! What every new nurse wishes he/she knew. In this AUDIO ONLY version, I will blow your mind and tell you everything you need to know about: ICU Dayshift vs ICU Nightshift Traveling with your patients to CT/MRI Lab results, CBC, BMP & Coags: what is really important?

Download! Our documentation requires us to chart pulses and whether they have been confirmed by palpation, Doppler, or if they are absent. I usually check pulses while I’m assessing neurological status in an awake patient but every RN has their own “flow”. Until I rotated through the Vascular ICU, I very rarely had to doppler [...]

Download! There are a lot of abbreviations in the Neuroscience ICU and you will almost never hear the layman’s term stroke. That is what confused me when I began. I was listening to report and hearing SAH, IVH, ICP, CPP, SDH, DAI, blah blah blah. Basically, I had no idea what was going on with [...]

Download! A patient with a cervical injury may have orders to logroll. Please refer to my blog post on Spinal Precautions if you would like more information about spinal injuries. Back to the logroll. Logroll? What are we- lumberjacks? Yep- pretty much. Logrolling maintains spine position when transferring a patient (from bed to stretcher, stretcher [...]

Download! Who Needs Spinal Precautions? Spinal Precautions are taken for patients with neurological deficits and those complaining of neck pain or tenderness after an injury. Examples include patients who have undergone a fall, a violent injury, a motor vehicle accident, any blunt trauma above the clavicles, or a collision injury. Spinal precautions may also be [...]

Duration:00:11:34

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